{"id":117134,"date":"2018-08-27T12:01:27","date_gmt":"2018-08-27T11:01:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=117134"},"modified":"2018-08-22T14:57:43","modified_gmt":"2018-08-22T13:57:43","slug":"what-if-the-world-started-using-us-logic-in-its-relations-with-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2018\/08\/what-if-the-world-started-using-us-logic-in-its-relations-with-america\/","title":{"rendered":"What If the World Started Using US Logic in Its Relations with America?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

A US Marine covers the face of a statue of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein with a US flag, Baghdad, April 9, 2003. \u00a9 Goran Tomasevic \/ Reuters<\/p><\/div>\n

21 Aug 2018 – <\/em>You\u2019re sanctioned! You\u2019re bombed! You\u2019re invaded! The US has plenty of punishments lined up for states which it claims are doing things wrong. But what if the rest of the world held the US to the same standards?<\/p>\n

Last Thursday [16 Aug] was quite an unusual day. The US didn\u2019t impose new sanctions on anyone. Not unless I missed it while I was lying on my sofa with tendonitis (cured after a day, I\u2019m pleased to say, by my wife\u2019s \u2018Two-Pointing\u2019).<\/p>\n

At present the US operates active<\/a> sanctions programs against almost 20 countries: from Belarus to Zimbabwe. And guess what? By and large the reasons the US gives for sanctioning these countries could just as equally be used to sanction the US.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s look at the recently re-imposed sanctions on Iran, some of which came into force on August 6, with others set for November 4. The financial punishments don\u2019t just target Iran. In a particularly nasty, school playground-style bullying tactic they target countries and foreign financial institutions which trade with Iran too. The Islamic Republic is accused of \u201cmalign behavior.\u201d<\/em> Of being a leading, sorry, make that \u201cTHE world\u2019s leading state sponsor<\/a> of terror.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

In fact Tehran\u2019s crime has been to help defeat the terrorism, euphemistically described as \u201crebel activity,\u201d<\/em>supported<\/a> by the US and its regional allies in Syria.<\/p>\n

Read more: West eyes recolonization of Africa by endless war; removing Gaddafi was just first step <\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If sanctions are to be imposed for \u201cmalign behavior\u201d<\/em> and being a \u201csponsor of terror\u201d<\/em> then it\u2019s the US that should be sanctioned, and not Iran. Moreover, if we followed the US logic, countries and financial institutions trading with America would be hit too. Just imagine the outcry from Washington if Iran had announced the sort of comprehensive measures against companies and banks that do business with the US, that the US has announced against companies and banks that do business with Tehran. But they would be justified, if we followed the State Department\u2019s line of reasoning.<\/p>\n

Russia has been subject to US sanctions<\/a> since 2014. The Kremlin was accused of \u201cannexing\u201d<\/em> Crimea, and \u201cundermining\u201d<\/em> the \u201cdemocratic processes and institutions in Ukraine,\u201d<\/em> and threatening Ukraine\u2019s \u201cpeace, security, stability, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t just in the 21st century behave in 19th century fashion by invading another country on a completely trumped-up pre-text,\u201d<\/em>declared<\/a> Secretary of State John Kerry, without any sense of irony. Because when it comes to invading other countries on \u201ccompletely trumped-up pretexts\u201d<\/em> no-one has done it more often in recent decades or more shamelessly than the US and its allies. Iraqi WMDs anyone?<\/p>\n

In April it was reported that the US was illegally occupying<\/a> around 30 percent of Syria \u2013 the areas where most of the oil is located. Did the Syrians vote for this, as the Crimeans voted? In the case of the latter, an overwhelming majority of the population chose to return to Russian authority in 2014.<\/p>\n

Of course, you don\u2019t hear anyone talk about the US \u201cannexing\u201d<\/em> Syria \u2013 \u201cannexing\u201d<\/em> is only what \u201cofficial enemies\u201d<\/em> do.<\/p>\n

Russia has also been sanctioned for \u201cinterfering\u201d<\/em> in the 2016 US Presidential election. Never mind we\u2019ve got no hard evidence of this. But what we do have proof of is massive US meddling in Russia\u2019s presidential election of 1996 (Time magazine even boasted about it on its front cover<\/a>) and in countless other elections around the world. Being accused of interfering in other countries\u2019 affairs by the US is like being told to sit up straight by the Hunchback of Notre Dame, or being lectured on moral rectitude by Count Dracula.<\/p>\n

Read more: Modern imperialism goes on trial, and is found guilty <\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If US standards on \u201celection meddling\u201d<\/em> were applied to itself, then at least half the countries in the world would be justified in sanctioning the US. A country that most certainly does interfere in US politics is Israel.<\/p>\n

\u201cIsraeli intervention in US elections vastly overwhelms anything the Russians may have done,\u2026even to the point where the prime minister of Israel, (Benjamin) Netanyahu, goes directly to Congress, without even informing the president, and speaks to Congress, with overwhelming applause, to try to undermine the president\u2019s policies \u2013 what happened with Obama and Netanyahu in 2015,\u201d<\/em>says<\/a> Noam Chomsky.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So is the US sanctioning Israel? Au contraire: \u2018key US lawmakers\u2019 want to increase<\/a> the $38bn in military aid it gives to Israel!<\/p>\n

The same \u2018key US lawmakers\u2019 who, surprise, surprise, are so keen to punish Russia!<\/p>\n

The latest US sanctions on Russia, which come into force this week, are in relation to the Skripal case, and what Washington calls (no sniggering at the back) a \u201cviolation of international law.\u201d<\/em> Never mind that, once again, no evidence has yet been produced to show that Russia poisoned Sergei and Yulia. Just imagine if the Kremlin introduced sanctions on the US in response to the unsolved poisoning of two American citizens, who had worked previously for the FSB. What would the US say to that? Worse still, Washington is demanding that Russia proves within 90 days that it is no longer using chemical or biological weapons and will not do so again in the future. How about if someone gave the US this ultimatum? After all, we know that the US has used<\/a> chemical weapons and possibly biological ones too and still has stockpiles<\/a>, having missed the 2012 OPCW deadline.<\/p>\n

Russia, by contrast, completed<\/a> the disposal process in 2017.<\/p>\n

Moving to Africa, the US has sanctioned Zimbabwe since 2001. All about Robert Mugabe? Well, Comrade Bob has gone now, and guess what? This summer the US extended<\/a> sanctions ahead of the country\u2018s presidential elections. It\u2019s clear that Zimbabwe is subject to sanctions because it has the \u201cwrong\u201d<\/em> foreign policy alignments. Again, imagine if countries sanctioned the US because they didn\u2019t like those with whom they were friendly?<\/p>\n

A common reason cited for US sanctions against other countries is that they don\u2019t hold \u201cfree and fair elections.\u201d<\/em> But does the US? The American political system is controlled by big money and powerful interest groups.<\/p>\n

The Democrats and Republicans are just two wings of the same pro-war, pro-capital party, one just a little bit more socially liberal than the other to give voters the illusion of choice. For the US to sanction other countries for alleged democratic deficiencies really takes the biscuit when you consider the \u201cchoice\u201d<\/em> on offer to American voters in 2016. Even more hypocritical is when the US cites \u201chuman rights\u201d<\/em> concerns as a reason for punishing a foreign state. This is the country, which after all, is so committed to human rights that it withdrew<\/a> from the UN Human Rights Council in June.<\/p>\n

In fact, some of the worst human rights-abusing states in the world are very close allies of the US, such as Saudi Arabia and Israel, and of course Washington doesn\u2019t sanction them, but instead provides them with the military hardware to help them commit those very human rights abuses.<\/p>\n

\u2018Peace, security, stability, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.\u2019 Let\u2019s consider those words which the US uses to justify its sanctions on Russia, and think again about what\u2019s been going on in the world these last 30 years. Did the US and its allies care about the \u2018sovereignty and territorial integrity\u2019 of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia when they bombed the country for 78 days in 1999, to try and achieve \u201cindependence\u201d<\/em> for Kosovo?<\/p>\n

Did the US and its allies care about \u00a0\u2018peace, security and stability\u2019 when they illegally invaded Iraq in 2003, plunging the country into chaos and bloodshed, with the carnage continuing to this day? Did they care about these very noble things when they bombed Libya, a country with the highest living standards in the whole of Africa, back to the Stone Age, in 2011? \u00a0Or in their attempts to destabilize and Balkanize the Syrian Arab Republic?<\/p>\n

The US loves to punish other countries, but it has no legal or moral authority to be the world\u2019s judge, jury and executioner. It\u2019s time it was held accountable to the same standards it demands of others, and where appropriate, subject to the same penalties.<\/p>\n

In the words of my fellow OpEd columnist John Wight:<\/p>\n

\u201cOnly when we are living in a world in which sanctions are imposed \u2018on\u2019 the United States rather than \u2018by\u2019 the United States will we know justice reigns.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

______________________________________________<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/em>Neil Clark is a journalist, writer, broadcaster and blogger. He has written for many newspapers and magazines in the UK and other countries including<\/em> The Guardian, Morning Star, Daily and Sunday Express, Mail on Sunday, Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph, New Statesman, The Spectator, The Week, and<\/em> The American Conservative. He is a regular pundit on<\/em> RT and has also appeared on<\/em> BBC TV and radio, Sky News, Press TV and the<\/em> Voice of Russia. He is the co-founder of the Campaign For Public Ownership @PublicOwnership. His award winning blog can be found at www.neilclark66.blogspot.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 rt.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

21 Aug 2018 – You\u2019re sanctioned! You\u2019re bombed! You\u2019re invaded! The US has plenty of punishments lined up for states which it claims are doing things wrong. But what if the rest of the world held the US to the same standards? \u201cOnly when we are living in a world in which sanctions are imposed \u2018on\u2019 the United States rather than \u2018by\u2019 the United States will we know justice reigns.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":117135,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-117134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-anglo-america"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117134"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117134\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}